Quick Facts
Biography
Elan Lee (born 1975) is a game designer who works in the genre of alternate reality games.
Biography
Lee started his career as a character designer at Industrial Light and Magic, where he worked on several motion pictures. In 1998 he became lead game designer at Microsoft Game Studios, designing and directing games for the PC and Xbox. While working for Microsoft he was the lead designer for The Beast, an alternate reality game (ARG) that promoted the Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
In 2003 he co-founded 42 Entertainment, a design company in the new field of alternate reality games (ARGs). 42 has created multiple ARGs, including, I Love Bees to promote the Xbox game Halo 2, and Year Zero, to promote the Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero.
In 2006, he co-founded (with Dawne Weisman) edoc laundry, a company designed to produce ARGs using clothes as the primary platform. Consumers deciphered codes hidden within garments and entered the results into the game's main website to reveal pieces of a story about the murder of a band manager.
In 2007, he founded Fourth Wall Studios, an entertainment studio aiming to develop and publish entertainment experiences of varying scopes.
In 2013, he returned to Microsoft as the Chief Design Officer for Xbox Entertainment Studios.
In 2015, he partnered with Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) and Shane Small to create the card game 'Exploding Kittens', funded on Kickstarter.
In 2016, he partnered again with Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) and Carly McGinnis to create the card game 'Bears vs. Babies', currently being funded on Kickstarter.
Credits
With Microsoft:
- The Beast: Lead Designer (2001)
With 42 Entertainment:
- I Love Bees Lead Designer (2004)
- Last Call Poker Lead Designer (2005)
- The Vanishing Point Lead Designer (2007)
- Year Zero Designer (2007)
Acclaim
Lee and his projects have won several industry awards for both design and marketing.
In 2005 I Love Bees won an Innovation Award from IGDA, and a Webby Award.
In 2008 Year Zero won the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Grand Prix Award for "Viral Marketing" as well as a Silver Award for "Integrated Campaign". The game also won a bronze Clio Award, and two Webbys: Peoples Voice Award (Branded Content) and Peoples Voice Award (Integrated Campaigns).
In 2012 Lee won a Creative Arts Emmy for Original Interactive Programming for the web series Dirty Work. The same year he won the Trailblazer Award from IndieCade.